Bob Hanna: Alvarez over Mayweather: Don't believe the hype

The drum-beaters at Showtime and its parent company CBS have gone all out in building up Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in what they hope will be the biggest grossing pay-per-view fight in boxing history.

Bob Hanna

The drum-beaters at Showtime and its parent company CBS have gone all out in building up Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in what they hope will be the biggest grossing pay-per-view fight in boxing history.

I refer, of course, to Alvarez's quest to end Floyd Mayweather's reign as the No. 1 man in boxing Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Oscar De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions are staging the event, is even predicting a knockout win for the 23-year-old kid.

I don't think so. Methinks that's the promoter in De La Hoya talking.

But even if he's dead serious, I don't think Alvarez is quite ready for the likes of Mayweather. Canelo hasn't fought anyone close to the crafty Mayweather. The gap is just too big.

Don't get me wrong, I like Alvarez. He's a good, strong, well-grounded young fighter and yes, he was impressive in beating another good young fighter in Austin Trout. But neither Trout nor Alvarez has the experience, guile, and adaptability of Mayweather.

And forget all the bragging blather from Mayweather, the reality is that the guy never takes an opponent lightly. No one works harder in the gym than the "Money" man, so over-confidence is not a factor.

Alvarez is a good body banger and will try to apply relentless pressure to slow Mayweather down, but so have a lot of other good fighters. Mayweather, a master counter-puncher and in-fighter, always has an answer. He is usually the stronger fighter down the stretch.

Neither has Alvarez ever fought as good a defensive fighter as Mayweather, and nothing tires a fighter out more than missing with his punches.

Remember when Shane Mosley wobbled Mayweather with a big right hand in the second round? Well, he didn't land another solid punch the rest of the fight.

I think Alvarez will have his moments, especially in the early rounds, but look for Mayweather to come on in the middle rounds and finish strong to win a close but unanimous decision.

It will be a good fight, an interesting fight, but not the best fight on the card. That honor will likely go to the Danny Garcia-Lucas Matthysse co-feature. This one shapes up as a great fight, a Fight of the Year candidate.

Garcia is the unbeaten (26-0, 16 KOs) WBC/WBA junior welterweight champion, while Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs) is the WBC interim champion, his only two losses being controversial split decisions to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander.

In his last fight, Matthysse absolutely destroyed IBF junior welterweight champ Lamont Peterson in three rounds in a non-title affair last May.

This is a pick 'em fight if there ever was one. This is also a PPV card that could be worth every penny.

Remember that item we ran a few weeks ago about Curtis "Showtime" Stevens calling out undefeated WBA middleweight champion Gennady "Triple G" Golovkin and then his promoter, Main Events, declining an offer from the Golovkin camp?

Well, it appears Main Events has had a change of heart (with a little more money thrown in, I suspect). Stevens gets his shot at Golovkin Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden, thus satisfying Golovkin's desire for a fifth title defense this year. The man likes to stay busy.

A former junior middleweight, Stevens (25-3, 18 KOs) made a sensational debut as a middleweight with one-round knockout of Saul Roman (37-10) at the Mohegan Sun Aug. 3.

Apparently inspired by Golovkin's reputation as a "superman," "Showtime" has also changed his nickname to "Kryptonite."

Somehow, I don't think that will strike fear into the heart of "Triple G," who gets a rare opportunity to fight someone smaller than him in Stevens.

Light heavyweight Kevin Cobbs of New Bedford hopes to return to the ring on a Nov. 13 card at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, R.I., that will feature Peter Manfredo Jr., but nothing is definite yet as the card is still being put together by promoter Jimmy Burchfield.

Sidelined by an injury, Cobbs (7-1, 2 KOs) hasn't fought since March 15 when he won a split decision over Paul Gonsalves of Harwich (4-3).

As for Johnny Vazquez, it looks like his pro career is over before it ever really got started.

The New Bedford junior welterweight (5-1-1, 4 KOs) hasn't fought since March, 2012, and has reportedly put on a lot of weight, with no indication that he's planning on a return to the gym.

Remember that column we wrote on how deep in talent the bantamweight/featherweight divisions are?

There was more evidence of it a couple of weeks ago when former featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez (55-8, 47 KOs) reclaimed the WBC title with a stunning first round knockout of previously unbeaten, three-division champion Abner Mares (26-1-1) in Carson, California.

This was supposed to be a swan song fight for Gonzalez, who had lost the title to Daniel Ponce de Leon, who subsequently lost the title to Mares. And round and round we go.

"This moment right now is the single greatest and most glorious moment of my life," said Gonzalez after the fight.

To his credit, Mares offered no excuses.

"Johnny was the better fighter today," said Mares. "He beat me. He knocked me out and I have nothing but respect for him."

Oh yeah, in the co-feature, former IBF bantamweight champ Leo Santa Cruz (25-0-1) won the WBC super bantamweight with a third round TKO over newly crowned Victor Terrazas (37-3-1).

In case you missed it, former heavyweight world title challenger Chris Arreola (36-3, 31 KOs) resurrected his career while possibly ending that of Seth "Mayhem" Mitchell (26-2-1, 19 KOs) with a first round annihilation of Mitchell Saturday night in Indio, California.

It was the second humbling loss in his last three fights for Mitchell, who was stopped by Johnathan Banks in two rounds last fall.

Arreola, meanwhile, had lost two of his last three fights to Tomasz Adamek and Bermane Stiverne, both of which he blamed on himself for poor training habits.

Bob Hanna covers boxing for The Standard-Times. Contact him at Sports@S-T.com